The present invention relates to a mesh band which comprises helical members and pin members and which might be used chiefly in the fields of a bracelet and the bracelet of a wrist watch.
Helical members are classified as to the direction of wind into left-handed or S-twist helical members 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and right-handed or Z-twist helical members 2 as shown in FIG. 2. A mesh band 3 as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 is known which comprises a row of parallel, helical members of the same direction of wind, for example, left-handed helical members 1 fitted into one another, or passing through one another. Another mesh band 6 or 7 as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7 or in FIG. 8 is also known which is manufactured by causing a row of parallel, alternate helical members of different directions of wind, for example, parallel, alternate left-handed and right-handed helical members 1, 2 to engage with one another, and then by inserting a connecting rod across the length of each of the columns of the portions 4 at which such engagements take place, to connect the helical members 1, 2 to one another.
In any of these mesh bands 3, 6, 7 fabricated according to the prior art, the cut ends 8 and/or 9 of the helical members 1 and/or 2 appear on both lateral faces of the mesh band, as shown in the schematic perspective views of FIG. 4 and/or FIG. 6. Therefore any one of the mesh bands 3, 6, 7 has a drawback that, when it is worn about the wrist, the cuff of a sleeve of a wearer's apparel catches on the cut ends 8 and/or 9 of the helical members 1 and/or 2. They possess another drawback in that it is difficult to expect absolute safety from them since the cut ends 8 and/or 9 can damage other objects and inflict bodily injury on the wearer himself or herself and on other persons.
Various attempts have been proposed to elminate the above-mentioned drawbacks; for example, either the cut ends 8 and/or 9 are individually brazed or pushed into the inside, or the lateral faces of the mesh band 3, 6 or 7 are hammered or spread out in order to form flat ones. However, these operations require intricate process steps and cost a great deal. Furthermore, such finished goods themselves do not look nice and are of no value as articles of commerce. Especially in the case where helical members are made of a noble metal, in the prior art a process of individually brazing the cut ends requires an extremely large number of man-hours. Another attempt has been proposed in which an unfinished mesh band is folded across two straight lines which pass through their respective points at a perpendicular distance of approximately 1/4 of the width of the unfinished mesh band from both edges thereof and which are parallel to the longitudinal center line, in such a way that the both edges are brought to the center line on the wrong side, and then the unfinished mesh band thus folded is sewn at the middle. In this case, the mesh band has a drawback in that its thickness will become larger unless a smaller diameter is employed as the diameter of a piece of wire out of which a helical member is formed.